Sustainability

"It is clear that more and more businesses are building the concept of sustainability into their operations," said Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "We believe the next innovation is integrating worker safety and health into these sustainability strategies."

Global green building is expected to double every three years, according to a Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report cited by USGBC, which was a contributing partner on the report.

"Protecting the environment is something that Microsoft and our employees believe in strongly. We are grateful for this recognition by GBCI and look forward to building on our work to reduce waste at our Redmond headquarters," said Susan Wagner, senior director of Microsoft Real Estate & Facilities.

"This year's honorees are trailblazers in innovation, small business, health care, and sustainable textiles. Their visionary leadership is helping to power the economy and increase our ability to compete globally," Pritzker said. "The Commerce Department proudly supports these four outstanding organizations for their unwavering commitment to performance excellence and their dedication to always reaching higher."

When paired with smart lighting, smart blinds can help maximize the amount of daylight in your home to cut down on electricity usage. For example, opening the blinds can trigger smart lighting to turn off, and vice versa.

RightCycle removes gloves, masks, garments, shoe covers, and other apparel accessories from the waste stream and turns them into plastic pellets that are then used to create eco-responsible consumer products and durable goods.

Mark Chambers, former director of sustainability and energy for the District of Columbia, will lead New York City's sustainability programs, including efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2050 and achieve important air quality and renewable energy goals. He starts later this month.

The agency's labs "are a global technology powerhouse that harness innovation to create jobs, support new industries and help ensure America’s competitive edge in areas of national security and science," said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Building audits are conducted regularly, and these allow the academy to review or considers solar arrays; geothermal energy; building infrastructure; window efficiency; insulation; and installing new boilers and HVAC equipment.

U.S. Green Building Council and Second Nature select Arizona State University and Johnson County Community College as 2016 winners of higher education climate leaders competition due to their ongoing commitment to climate leadership.